Tag Archives: suicides

It was an adult who made me smoke my first hashish joint, a man of about forty years who loved little children. I was 15 years old and I didn’t feel anything the first time. It is a funny phenomenon, the first joint that does not do anything. This often happens. By the second joint, I was addicted.

I had always struggled to make friends, but instantly I became part of a group in high school: the “freaks”. I did not even know what it meant, but I was proud of it. Very quickly, I had to smoke every day. I financed this operation by hitch-hiking and accepting the advances of the men who picked me up. Continue reading →

Average flower is 17.1% in one state with legal sales of recreational marijuana, Colorado, much higher than the national average (HIDTA, 2017), and as high as 30% THC in some samples (NBC News report). It should be noted that variation in testing results is quite high between laboratories (Jikomes and Zoroob, 2018).

Cougle JR et al. (2015). Quality of life and risk of psychiatric disorders among regular users of alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis: An analysis of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). J Psychiatr Res., 66-67, 135-141

Di Forti M, et al. Proportion of patients in South London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2(3):233-8.

Raemakers, JG Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis: An Increasing Public Health Concern. JAMA published online March 26, 2018 Regular cannabis users wrongfully believe that cannabis does not affect their driving performance or that they can compensate for cannabis-associated impairment. Raemakers_2018 JAMA driving editorial.pdf

Olfson M, Wall M Cannabis Use and Risk of Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in the United States American J Psychiatry. Cannabis use, even among adults with moderate to severe pain, was associated with a substantially increased risk of nonmedical prescription opioid use at 3-year follow-up. https://doi-org.proxy.hsi.ucdenver.edu/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040413

Graph provided by The Marijuana Report/National Families in Action. March 2018

Olfson M, Wall M Cannabis Use and Risk of Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in the United States, American J Psychiatry. Cannabis use, even among adults with moderate to severe pain, was associated with a substantially increased risk of nonmedical prescription opioid use at 3-year follow-up. https://doi-org.proxy.hsi.ucdenver.edu/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040413

Statistics and Toxicology Reports Reveal Marijuana – Suicide Link

The increasing number of youth suicides seems to be tied to two factors, bullying and marijuana. Although bullying may be a reason that youth turn to marijuana, in doesn’t resolve the underlying issues making them depressed or upset. The outcomes for trying to resolve such issues using marijuana are very poor, and in fact marijuana usually makes problems much worse.

Colorado has tracked suicides before and after legalization, and policy makers should be alarmed by the results.

The numbers show an increasing number of suicides by year and by age group. The youngest group (10 – 14 yo) have increased nearly 270% from 2005-08 to 2013-16. The next age group (15 – 19 years) increased by 133% over the same period. The 20-24 years group increased by 128% over the same time period. All of these jumps are very significant.

Note in the below graph that suicide rates were falling in Colorado prior to medical marijuana legalization. Then they started to rise. They fell off slightly but then skyrocketed when Colorado voters decided to green light the recreational marijuana industry.

All Age Groups Suicide Rate Colorado

The percent of marijuana found in bodies of all suicide victims DOUBLED (from 8.1% prior to legal mj sale, 8.7% during the years of medical mj sales, TO 16% in recreational mj sales years) since recreational sales of marijuana started in 2013 from the preceding two time frames. THIS should be extremely concerning…. Yet legislators are plowing ahead ….

Increase in suicide for all ages seems tied to availability of the drug.

Another theory as to why marijuana is prevalent is that marijuana can decrease the vomiting reflex. If a person ingests a lethal dose of chemicals that can kill them, the body will try to expel them by vomiting. If a person takes an anti-nausea substance, it may allow those chemicals to stay in their system, therefore allowing the chemicals to kill them.

Ten- to Nineteen-Year-Olds are the Most Vulnerable to Marijuana Related Suicide

State of Colorado, Suicide Toxicology, 10-19 year olds

Programs to prevent youth suicides need to also be concerned with preventing youth marijuana usage. Nine out of eleven teens who committed suicide in one Colorado community had marijuana in their system. It is pathetic. To learn how one teen used marijuana to deal with bullying and then committed suicide, please listen to the following You Tube.

Marijuana Cessation

If your child quits using marijuana, please be sure to give them counseling and support as much as possible. Since the heavy use of this drug can deplete 20% of your natural dopamine, it takes time for the brain to recover and regain the natural occurring chemicals.

There’s a risk for suicide after marijuana cessation. The greatest risk comes six months after beginning abstention, according to Dr. Drew Pinsky. In these cases toxicology won’t show the connection with the drug, and yet, it is well known by researchers that marijuana causes mood disorders like depression which in the most serious cases lead to suicide. Learn more about suicide risk and marijuana on the MomsStrong.org website. We previously wrote a three-part series on marijuana and suicide.